


Deep Space, Dark Sea

by TheDreamyWarrior



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Amputee Peridot (Steven Universe), Blood and Gore, Body Horror, F/F, Human Peridot (Steven Universe), Mermaid Lapis Lazuli (Steven Universe)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-08 13:31:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16430330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDreamyWarrior/pseuds/TheDreamyWarrior
Summary: There are many interesting things about the universe and space, but there are also many things that lay under the deep ocean in our own planet.





	Deep Space, Dark Sea

The universe is full of wonders, and so is the earth, humans know more about the unending space than about the depths of the ocean. There are many mysteries literally under our feet but we prefer to look up at the vastness of the galaxies, nebulas, and stars.

Peridot has always been of the second kind, she loved to look up to the dark sky and identify the different constellations, she loved to visit the exhibitions or go to the talks that happened around the telescopes in Hawaii. She surely felt very lucky for being there, it was probably the best place to be a space fan in the whole world.

She was only 6 years old and she already knew about a bunch of stuff, complicated stuff for other kids too. She loved to read thick space science books on the library or ask the Physics teachers on her school about astronomy.

Peridot was recognizable by everyone in her town, her blonde messy hair and her mossy green eyes, full of wonders and curiosity, open wide to look around and immediately move to see what appears to be interesting for her. The wide brilliant smile that was plastered in her face literally every single moment you saw her, some teeth missing already showing that she was growing up. And her suntanned skin with small freckles around her face and shoulders.

The only other thing that Peridot loved as much as Astronomy was surfing, her father taught her how to surf when she was 2 and since then every day that she could escape to the beach she went out, walked a couple of blocks and went into the crystalline waters of Hawaii, catching some small waves and having the fun of her life, feeling the saline dew hitting her face along with the sea wind.

It was a beautiful day, the middle of summer being present with the scorching rays of the sun up in the sky, the fragrance of the sea calling her for a session of her favorite sport.

8 years old Peridot decided to do what she thought was the best thing she could, the heat in the air making her desire the embrace of the freshwater that could be heard hitting the beach from inside her house, she put sunscreen over her whole body, looked around for her bright green swimsuit, and then for the surf table.

“Ma! I’ll go out for a while!” The small voice of the girl shouted from the entrance.

“Take care Peri! Come back before lunch.” Her mother answered while starting to cut some garlic to add to the plate she was about to start cooking.

The blonde nodded with a loud affirming hum, and ran out, shutting the door of the building behind her.

The voices of the people, the laughs of the little kids playing with the water, the shouting from friends that tried to surf together trying to decide who would stay up for longer.

Peridot took a deep inhale, trying to let the smell of the sea go through her nostrils and fill her lungs with energy, and finally between giggles and a big grin she ran to the fresh blue water that was waiting for her with its restless waving.

When she was deep enough she put her chest over the surfing table, and started to swim her way to look for a wave to ride.

The blonde girl was sitting silently over her board, her small feet dangling under the water while she hoped for the next wave to arrive.

Suddenly the giggling and cheerfulness of the people near the water shifted to screams of horror that pounded on the child's eardrums, startling her because of the immediate mood change that she didn't expect at all.

But then she noticed, in a milisecond she felt something clamping on her left leg with a thousand small knives, and before Peridot was able to let out a painful shriek she was dragged under the agitated water.

The blonde girl opened her eyes to see the animal with bloodlusting eyes, a rough skin and white, sharp teeth. She could only try to jerk around her arms and her good leg in an attempt to fight the beast off.

She was able to hear underwater the sounds the small daggers of the shark made against the flesh of her meat, the blood driving it crazier and making it dip it's jaws more against her leg.

After more painful moments underwater she felt how the nerves and ligaments that connected her lower leg to her knee were severed, and if she were able to open her mouth without drowning the piercing wail she would have let out could have make shiver even the toughest being around.

Peridot knew it was over for her, the pain now slowly shifting into numbness as the predator continued to devour the limb that was hers seconds ago, her green eyes lifelessly wandering around to see anything within the red, cold water that was going to be her tomb.

She noticed how the shark was about to open its mouth to finally end her off, but it was interrupted by something — someone — launching against it.

The blonde girl tried to keep her eyes open to analyze the situation that was going in front of her, it was another girl — maybe her age? — But her eyes were completely black, the irises of the deepest blue one could recognize, her skin fair like porcelain, its smoothness only interrupted by the golden and blue freckles or — more like scales — Instead of ears she had fins, and her teeth were as sharp as the shark's, her hair was indigo, and her hands had webbed fingers that actually ended in claws...some gills at the sides of her chest…

For some reason Peridot didn’t fear, the other girl was approaching her elegantly, her claws softly gripping the blonde's skin as she started to go to the surface.

The last thing the girl directed her attention to before losing consciousness were the legs of the mysterious girl...or was it a tail…?

And everything went black, only for a blinding white to take over as she opened her eyes to the hospital room, the buzzing of the machines and the faces of both her parents over her staring worried, the blonde parted her lips, her voice coming out small.

“What happened?” She said struggling to not pass out again, her whole body feeling numb because of the painkillers.

Her mother looked at her for a couple of seconds, tears on the corners of her eyes. “You were attacked by a shark.” She then looked over to the girl's lower body, and the missing leg.

Peridot raised her head to look, her eyes widening in surprise when she noticed the bandages all over the stump that ended on her knee, she let out a sigh and then her green eyes wandered around the hospital room.

“Where's she?” She asked in a curious tone, her voice still difficult to hear.

The man beside her frowned. “She? What do you mean sweetie?” He asked a little preoccupied.

“The other girl.” Peridot answered shortly, her parents only looking more concerned with that.

“Dear, there wasn't another girl around you,” The woman reassured her. “The shark disappeared miraculously after it...well, engulfed your leg.”

The girl grimaced at the memory of the pain she felt as her leg was ripped apart, she let out a ragged sigh while squinting her eyes, her mother's soft hand calming her down.

She was sure that girl was real, she was sure that girl was the miracle that made the shark disappear and she was the one who saved her life.

Peridot decided to rest, and wait to get better before doing anything else.

Many months passed until the blonde messy hair appeared on the classroom door again, all of the kids trying to ask her classmate how she felt, if she was okay, and a couple more curious asked her about the prosthetic leg that she now had replacing the one she lost.

There were questions about the space, about the stars and about physics, but Peridot reluctantly answered them. The moment the teacher noticed the lack of interest from her over the topic that had been her hyperfixation for her whole life she asked her what was wrong about the astronomy.

Peridot's eyes raised to see the woman that was on her desk, and gave her a wide smile.

“Well miss, we know lots about the vast space, about things that are even further than what an human could see with the naked eye in the night sky,” she then looked to the classroom window, the horizon of the sea barely visible. “But we don't know what's about the deepest parts of the ocean, and all of that is in our own planet, only a couple of thousands kilometres under the surface of the water…”

The teacher raised an eyebrow curious, a small grin in her face. “What do you plan on doing about that?”

Peridot stared at the teacher's eyes. “I'll become the greatest sea biologist in the world! And I'll unveil all of the mysteries that lay in the depths of the sea!”

The blonde small girl grew up reading different books about the sea life, and she went the next 15 years studying, with the vision of that mysterious girl in her mind. She could dream about a future encounter, and felt the call of the ocean whenever she was nearby the beach. After years on college studying to be a deep sea biologist, she was finally back home.

It was a hot summer day, her parents and old school friends prepared a welcome back party for her, she graduated as the best of her generation and everyone was proud of her achievements, the blonde was proud of herself too, but the smell of the oceanic winds started to bother her in a strange way.

It was midnight, and Peridot's eyes were wide open, she couldn't find a way to sleep, a weird sound vibrating on her eardrums whenever she looked at the direction of the beach.

Everything started there, her dream to be what she was now, everything started with that incident, one could think that after that kind of attack she couldn't even be able to touch the water again out of fear but there was something stronger in the back of her mind making her feel more curious than terrified of the depths of the sea.

Peridot looked at her prosthetic leg laying beside her bed, and sighed deeply, she felt the need to go there, but why? There wasn't any actual reason, the full moon shone bright up in the sky, but even with the silver light bathing the whole place she could totally get lost if she tried to get into the waters with a boat.

But the urge to go there was stronger than the logistics of her brain, the blonde woman put on a pair of shorts, a t-shirt and a jacket, and then she sneaked out of her house.

The night sky was beautiful, the stars scattered on the deep black nothingness of the space, not a single cloud blocking the small lights that flickered like candles.

She took a small boat and pushed it to the shore, every single meter she got closer to the waving sea made her mind go crazier, some kind of sound she couldn't recognize pounding her ears strongly.

When she jumped on the boat it was like the waters went alive to surround it, making it go inside the ocean, only getting faster as Peridot sculled it further into the horizon.

She kept going, the ocean not countering her at all with a single wave, and she only stopped when the beach was barely visible.

Peridot looked up at the night sky, the calm waters not making a single sound, the only thing she could hear was her breathing and heartbeat, other than the buzzing in her ears that stopped being annoying and now felt like a soft humming inside her head.

One could say this was the middle of nothing, but the blonde woman thought she was in the center of everything, the deep space and the dark sea combining in the edge of the world, and the shining white dots reflected in the waters that acted as a mirror.

Peridot let herself not think about a single thing, until the silence was interrupted by the soft noise of the waters shifting.

Her green eyes looked around alert, trying to find whatever made that.

“If you listen hard enough, you can hear the the tingling of the stars.” Peridot heard a soft voice talking behind her, it was relaxing and beautiful but it could also come from an angsty teenager.

The woman turned her head surprised, seeing the torso that was looming from outside the waters and leant on the edge of the boat.

She recognized her immediately, the golden and blue scales, the black sclera and irised of the deepest blue one could see, the lack of ears, replaced by fins and her webbed hands that ended with dark claws.

The sight was terrifying, but also beautiful, one could see the appearance of this kind of monster and instantly start to run out of pure horror, but Peridot didn't fear, this _creature_ saved her many years ago from the shark, and now she finally got to see her for real.

“Who are you? What are you?” The blonde asked in awe.

The dark eyes glared at her silently, which made her shudder. She looked menacing yet gentle, elegant yet ferocious.

“We're not supposed to help humans, you know?” She said with a slight smile, her white sharp teeth shining with the moonlight, Peridot almost jumped at the memory of the shark, which had teeth like her. “Good to see you're safe and sound after all.” she continued before getting back to gaze the stars.

“It's you…” The woman said with a mix of amazement and fear, blinking a few times to reassure herself this wasn't a dream.

The cryptid let out a small laugh, snorting softly before looking at her again. “Yeah, I think it's me…” she then supported her chin with her arms on the edge of the boat, Peridot with her mouth agape.

The blue eyes looked back at her, raising her eyebrows. “What's your name?”

“Peridot.” She answered nervously. “What about yours?”

The mysterious woman blinked silently while staring at Peridot, her lack of response resulting unnerving to the human.

“I… don't have one.” She answered with her voice small, looking to a side.

“What?” Peridot asked while widening her eyes in shock. “Why?”

“I don't have a name, they took it, my species has prohibited to reveal oneself to a human, no matter what,” Her dark eyes wandered to look at the dark ocean. “Look, I saw you, a small kid, probably my age? About to meet a painful and horrible fate,” She bit her lower lip softly, her sharp teeth showing again. “I couldn't let that happen, it was either your death or my name. I didn't care that much about that, it was obvious which one of both was more valuable.”

Peridot found herself frowning, feeling sad about the way she was living, then she pondered about her words.

“What are you?” The woman asked with curiosity.

She could see the dark eyes opening in surprise at the question, a small smirk materializing in the white skin with shining scales.

“You aren't supposed to ask everyone you meet what they are Peridot, that's rude.” She responded with a giggle.

“I wouldn't ask if I knew for sure what I'm seeing, but I'm sure as hell you aren't human.” Peridot commented with a snarky tone.

She heard again that small laugh, the woman couldn't tell if it was getting annoying or more mesmerizing each time she heard it.

“Do you really humans use Hades’ realms with those kind of expressions?” She said mockingly.

“Are you going to tell me or not?” Peridot asked slightly bothered.

The creature parted her lips, her eyes gazing profoundly to the blonde's, and then moving aside for a iridescent tail to emerge from the sea.

“I'm what you humans call…” She was about to answer until Peridot interrupted her.

“A mermaid.” She said with a dumbfounded expression, this was like a child's dream coming true.

The mermaid was stunned for a couple of seconds, looking directly at the human who was frozen in awe, her eyes wide because of the surprise.

She smiled again, a soft pink blush tinting her cheeks. “You ask me what I am only to answer it yourself?” she said in a teasing tone.

“I'm sorry I just…” The woman wouldn't separate her eyes from the shining tail that was now being submerged again, as the face of the creature now approached hers. “Can you repeat why don't you have a name?”

The deep blue eyes looked to a side as she leaned her face on the border of the boat again. “I saved you, but I wasn't supposed to, they had to punish me, they took my name.”

Peridot felt a knot form in her stomach. “I'm sorry… I guess it's my fault.”

There was another silent minute, the mermaid humming softly.

“Well, you can give me a new name if you want.” She offered while smiling at her again.

Peridot felt like she was going to ask a million more questions, her mind racing with many thoughts of why, how. Each second she stared at her was making her heart race faster.

“Is that the only way I can pay you?” The blonde said nervously, her hands shivering softly.

“You don't want to name me?” The cryptid answered while glaring at her shortly, making the human feel a shiver go up her spine.

“It's not that...what if you don't like it?” She responded, her mind thinking about the ways anything could go wrong.

“There’s no way you could give me a name worse than Peridot.” The mermaid laughed a little in a teasing tone.

Peridot felt her cheeks burning at that, falling on the other's joke. “What?!”

The mermaid laughed louder with her reaction, the blonde humming annoyed while covering her face.

“You don't need to do it, I'm the one who got into this mess after all.” Her voice trailed off, a slightly melancholic tone as she tapped her fingers on the wooden boat.

Peridot stared at her, noticing the sad expression on her face, the shining blue and golden scales making her ponder. A name...what name could she give her? She wasn't able to concentrate with the buzzing in her ears that now was becoming unbearable, it was like a call, a signal.

The human closed her eyes, wondering what would be ideal, she inhaled trying to concentrate, the noise getting clearer as she continued to think.

She finally opened her eyes, the sound inside her head was now gone, the blonde parted her lips and talked with a soft voice.

“What about Lapis?”

The mermaid looked up to her, raising her eyebrows while her lips widened to make a smile.

“Lapis?” She snorted a little. “For Poseidon, that's worse than Peridot.”

Peridot frowned notably, the mocking tone of the mermaid feeling like a stab in her chest. “What? You don't like it?” She asked with a nervous tone.

Lapis looked at her, and then raised her head, her face only a few centimeters apart from the blonde's.

“I love it.” She said in a husky tone before getting nearer.

The human didn't even move, feeling the soft, cold lips touch hers, making her stomach flutter just like in the story books she used to read when she was little, and closed her eyes while cupping Lapis’ cheek with a hand, noticing the silvery glow that started to surround both of them.

The next morning everyone was looking around the beach, a boat was missing and so was Peridot, her parents worried about how, when and why.

Someone then shouted to look at the beach, a small boat approaching the shore with two persons inside, one with the recognizable blonde messy hair and another who no one had ever seen before, a pale skin, black hair and irises of the deepest blue one could ever see.

* * *

 

Humans know more about the vastness of space than about the depths of the ocean.

Lapis is one of those unknown mysteries that are still locked in the dark sea, for no human to ever get to find out.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a rewritten version of a one shot I did for the Lapidot AU week! I hope you like it, since the original version didn't satisfy me at all at first.  
> Thanks you for reading!


End file.
